Some of them spend their days hungry in
order to meet the demands of their employers. Many use cocaine to suppress
their appetites. Those who are already naturally slim take laxatives
regularly because they aren't thin enough. They avoid dining with their
friends and are often fatigued due to inadequate consumption of nutrients.
They average 15 to 20 percent below a natural, healthy weight for their
age and height.

Who are they? They are the glamorous women that we love, admire, and
are dying to look like. We are impressed with their image, daily seeing
them spread across billboards, in magazines, and on T.V. We beat ourselves
up because we do not have their physique. They are the standard, the
women who were able to discipline themselves sufficiently to achieve
the “acceptable weight.”

What?
Does this sound warped? Yet we continue to support
their industry by purchasing their magazines and products. This is not
the life of every fashion model, but there aren't many who have a healthy
relationship with food and their body. It's unfortunate that we've bowed
our head to this ideal of thinness that has been presented and demanded
of us. We are humans not cardboard cutout, factory produced mannequins.
We all have different shapes, sizes, and curves that should be respected.
It's one thing to desire to eat well and get exercise to optimize your
well being and look your best. It's another to sacrifice your health
in order to obtain an unnatural standard.

“I want to be able to share with young girls and women today that being
thin, being in a magazine, or being accepted even by an industry that
may appear glamorous isn't going to fulfill you. There will always be
an emptiness until you let go and be yourself.” says Virginia Morse,
a fashion model from Los Angeles . Ana Curdo, a model from New York explains, “ I
have not met one model thus far who has a clean record when it comes
to food and eating. It prevented me from going out with friends to dinner,
to social occasions, and from trying new things for fear of being out
of control.” There are plenty of tales from models just like these; their
stories are the same.